The Atlanta Police Department has hit a somber milestone: 100 homicide investigations in 2024. But the pace has slowed since last year, when the 100th homicide was recorded on Sept. 23, 2023.
“One robbery is one too many. One murder is one too many,” Atlanta Police Department Chief Darin Schierbaum told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “But we’re moving in the right direction. And this is a great city.”
Atlanta detectives investigated 135 homicides in 2023, down from 171 in 2022 — the highest number for since 1996, according to department data. The prior two years saw 161 and 157 homicide investigations, respectively, during a nationwide pandemic-era surge.
Atlanta has seen a decrease in shootings in addition to homicide cases, Schierbaum said.
“We are focusing on what we believe as a police department we are responsible for, which is attacking gangs, guns and drugs here in our city,” he said.
Mayor Andre Dickens has pointed to programs such as Midnight Basketball — a new season was set to tip off Tuesday — among the city’s crimefighting efforts.
Partnerships between city leaders and police, along with state and federal law enforcement groups, have included “Operation Heatwave,” a targeted effort during summer months when violence tends to increase, the chief said.
A next operation, dubbed “Deep Freeze,” was to kick off Tuesday night and will focus on high-crime areas, Schierbaum said. Both operations mean increased patrols by officers, including those walking or on bikes, as well as the CARE unit, comprised of citizens who patrol to free up uniformed officers for bigger crimes.
Data released in September by the FBI showed violent crimes dropped nationwide in 2023 following the pandemic-era surge. In Atlanta, those crime rates decreased even more, according to police data.
Nationwide, homicides dropped nearly 12%, rapes decreased more than 9% and aggravated assault decreased nearly 3% from 2022, according to the FBI report. From 2022 to 2023, homicides dropped 21% percent in Atlanta. Rape cases dropped 51% and aggravated assault fell 16%, according to Atlanta police department data.
Ziyu Julian Zhu/AJC
Ziyu Julian Zhu/AJC
In recent weeks, the FBI revised its data — something the agency does yearly, according to national crime analyst Jeff Asher, the cofounder of AH Datalytics. That’s because the agency may get data from additional agencies or revised numbers from law enforcement, Asher told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
But the FBI’s revisions got extra attention this year with crime being a key top during the presidential race. During an August rally in Atlanta, former President Donald Trump called the city a “killing field” and has said nationwide, crime has soared under President Joe Biden’s administration.
“Everyone thinks that violent crime surged,” Asher said. “It didn’t. It went up in 2020 and has fallen every year since.”
The FBI relies on agencies throughout the country to submit data yearly, but not everyone complies, Asher explained. In 2021, there was “substantial under-reporting” of data, he said. Last year, agencies representing nearly 90% of the U.S. population submitted data.
Even if every law enforcement agency in the country submitted its data, “It doesn’t change the trend,” Asher said.
In addition to a drop in homicides, aggravated assault cases in Atlanta are down 9%, according to the department’s most recent data.
But a top cause of homicides in Atlanta this year is domestic violence and escalating disputes between people very familiar with one another, Schierbaum said. That’s where help from the public is needed, he said.
“We can take down drug-dealing operations in the city and we do it every week,” the chief said. “We can stop gangs from organizing and carrying out violence. We do that every week. We can take guns off the street. We’re a high number of guns being taking off the street.
“But we can’t be in your living room when you’re mad,” Schierbaum said. “And we can’t protect you whenever someone is so angry that they’re willing to take your life if it’s happening in a home, outside of a criminal action that the police department isn’t aligned with.”
As the holiday season approaches, robberies may also tick up, according to police. Robbery may have been in the motive in the city’s 100th homicide, according to the victim’s family.
The homicide case involves the Saturday shooting death of Salvador Ramirez, 23, of Lawrenceville. As of Monday no arrests had been made. His father, Oscar Guevara, told Channel 2 Action News he believes Ramirez was targeted for expensive tools he used in his construction work.
“Take care. Be careful,” Guevara told his son hours before he was shot.
He said, ‘Yeah, it’s OK,’” said Guevara. “Two hours later, I call him, but he does not answer.”
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